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Shamrockium, Lepreconium and Lucky Shannanigans
TMBG Le Poisson Rouge 1/31/09a (Behind The Scenes) Rohan Johnson: They got up early to head to NYC for a double feature TMBG day. Family show in the afternoon, rock show at night, both at LPR. They had a ridiculous series of travel problems getting there, first getting separated on the train, then accidently getting on an express train and overshooting our stop. Then there was construction coming back the other way so we had to overshoot again and turn around before we finally got to the right place. By the time we got there the doors had been open for 45 minutes and I was sure we were going to be stuck in the back and not be able to see. But inside LPR all of the parents and kids had chosen to sit on the floor. So even though we stood at the back we had a perfect view to the stage (the place just isn't that big). As my boyfriend said, even if someone got up to dance it didn't matter because they were very short! They were standing right in front of the VIP area so got to see numerous family members of the band. It seemed like everyone had brought their kids. It was also funny watching how many people accidently walked back stage thinking it was the bathroom. And it was just funny in general seeing kids in a night club. But the staff were so into the whole family show concept. They had a stroller check and there were milk and cookies being served at the bar. It was adorable. Dan Miller: Alphabet of Nations had one of the best Guatemala's yet. John Linnell: Pirate Girls Nine featured Dan Levine on Euphonium, "the small competitive friend of the tuba, enemy of the trombone." John Flansburgh: All the horns came out for Seven. Curt Ramm was not with us at this show. Instead we had a trumpet player named Scott Harrell. He was good but was not Curt. Curt, it seems, was playing with Springsteen at the Superbowl. BlueCanary guesses he can be forgiven for missing a TMBG show for that. I amusingly forgot Scott's last name at one point. He was introducing the horns again and said "once again, Stan "The Optimist" Harrison on the sax, Scott.....on the trumpet, and Dan "The Machine" Levine of the trombone. I Never Go to Work was introduced as the musician's anthem because they never go to work. Marty Beller: I came out to do Alphabet Lost and Found and did the obligatory crazy, escaped drummer dancing. BlueCanary never, ever get tired of watching me dance or fall down on the floor. I even moved too fast for my camera. John Flansburgh: Clap Your Hands had definitely dropped the screaming by this show and replaced it with more clapping. Hannah Levine: I was there to sing One Dozen Monkeys. Flans' version is amusing but it was nice to hear the real thing and she was great. She had some trouble getting the mic to be short enough for her which was cute. John Flansburgh: I had to introduce Four of Two because my friend Linnell declared himself the band liar. Danny Weinkauf: BlueCanary loves Where Do They Make Balloons? Actually, I love everything that I do. John Flansburgh: Broom was amusing as always and was talking about his next gig that he had booked. John Linnell: We decided to sing WDTSS? in pirate voices which lasted most of the way through until it got to the nuclear reactions and Flans told me to do them. By then i had morphed into an Irish accent and declared that "the heat and light of the sun are caused by nuclear reactions between Shamrockium, Lepreconium and Lucky Shannanigans." Brilliant!! John Flansburgh: 813 Mile Car Trip was mislabeled as 814 on the setlist which was very easy to get after the show because the kids didn't care. There was more discussion of their Grammy nomination and they said if they won they would be free to make inferior music. Looking back on it, it was sad because from the way he was talking about it, I seemed so excited about going to the ceremony and then he didn't end up being able to go. Life's timing is just crappy sometimes. TMBG Le Poisson Rouge 1/31/09b (Behind The Scenes) Rohan Johnson: The show was plagued by technical problems. Lala was running the board at the front and was really having trouble (oddly, I have never seen him again after this show - BlueCanary hopes those two things aren't related). They couldn't seem to get all the mics and instruments adjusted right. John Linnell: My mic was completely drowned out during Ana Ng and he kept gesturing for it to be turned up but Lala kept misunderstanding and playing with the keyboard instead until the song was over and I stood there pointing emphatically at his mic. Danny seemed to be taking point on getting things fixed and he spend so much of the beginning of the show gesturing to the techs on the opposite side of the stage to fix various things, they should have just moved him over. It must have been very frustrating for the band but BlueCanary is sorry to say, it was kind of funny to watch. They did more or less get everything working by the end. John Flansburgh: BlueCanary doesn’t remember a single word of banter from this one, only the music. He was stoked to see Cowtown, having missed it the last time they played it at LPR. Dan Miller: BlueCanary had never heard Puppet Head live before. Now if they will just play Purple Toupee at a show I will have seen all of what I consider to be the BIG hits live. John Linnell: BlueCanary had heard that they had played End of the Tour and Museum of Idiots at the show previous to this one which I wasn't able to go to and I was really hoping they would play them again since they are two of my favorites. I was all but jumping out of my shoes when I saw them on Dan's list. Museum of Idiots in particular I really identify with. It was one of the first TMBG songs I really loved. John Flansburgh: Pet Name, as I have learned is traditional, was played in total darkness. Scott Harrell: While Dan was tuning his acoustic guitar before Istanbul, Flans sang a little song about it which he had to change halfway through when Dan had to switch to electric because there was something wrong with the acoustic. BlueCanary could not believe how fast Dan's hand was moving during the solo. You can really get an idea of it from the picture.